jurnee_reads's reviews
325 reviews

A quick and easy read, I quite enjoyed myself.

It’s nice that we didn’t have to wait too long to get to the two outcasts after they were introduced like… 2 books ago. This plot point wasn’t dragged out either, wrapping up without too much unnecessary drama.

Juth and Pak are precious and deserve the world. I’m glad we have at least one queer lead! Steph being bi was a great point to add and it was handled nicely.

These two are perfect for each other! And the way Sam’s trauma was dealt with was really wonderful. I truly felt for her and believed in her fear, just fantastic writing for this character. Sessah is such a sweetie but I’m glad to have noticed the real growth in him after the time skip. He’s a man now, but he’s still the sweet guy he’s always been. The way he was with Sam made me love him, how patient and gentle he was with her just melted my heart. One of his best lines was when he said he wouldn’t mind if she stabbed him! He’s hilariously cute!

Their passionate lovemaking was off the charts! Ruby’s books always have good smut, but this one in particular is one of my favorite dynamics. The two of them finally giving into the obsession and embracing it was so hot.

All the drama in the later half of the book confused me some. The author’s note just sort things out but I had trouble understanding what was going on before that. I also would have preferred if they hadn’t kept that event a secret from the tribe.

All in all, great read with two fantastic characters.

Great pairing, interesting romance, lots of growth.

So much about this one to love! Flor is impossible not to like, I just adore her. She’s a great match for I’rek with his serious nature and grumpy attitude. They play off of each other well and seeing them slowly open up to each other was undeniably sweet.

Lots of drama and action going on as well, but it never felt like it overshadowed the romance. Everything fit well. The new characters and secrets going on make me so excited for more stories on the Ice Planet!

The spice was top notch! Hot hot hot!!!

I don’t mind the concept, I love some alien abduction and I can get behind a forced marriage trope… but the characters don’t really do it for me. I’m usually into the angry type, but this guy is more mean angry than I’d prefer… especially with the fl. She’s also kind of annoying… she doesn’t think before she acts and she feels like of stupid, if I was in her position I would be asking a ton of questions instead of fighting everyone along the way. She also sort of resolved to getting married pretty quick too, like one second she’s running and the next she’s drooling over alien men. The dynamic between them is irritating as well, I’m more into an opposites attract type and these two seem so similar it’s just weird. No chemistry for me, just angry people each trying to get one over on the other.

I had to skim over the first sexual scene a little… I think it’s suppose to be hot but it started with a little non-con and there was no warning for that… I can handle some non-con, but I don’t want to be surprised by it, also it doesn’t work with this overly aggressive character for me because it comes off rapey instead of dominant which is what I think the author was going for.

After just a couple days with Theo, Jade starts to feel like she doesn’t want to return to Earth, saying she feels like she’s living in color… but why?! Nothing is shown about her desires and wants aside from going back to Earth. We don’t know what her passions are, what she cares about… nothing. So I can’t see what she suddenly found so freeing about this place. She knows she won’t have to work but what else does she intend to do with her time? We don’t know. She doesn’t have any passions for anything, not even a passion for traveling or learning things… just nothing.

Their romance is just unbelievable… not in a good way. One round of sex and already they’re in love? I don’t get it. They were so hateful and aggressive before. That’s not romance in my mind, it’s just lazy writing. We’re told that they talked about their respective worlds and had a walk in the woods… but that doesn’t do anything for the romance. Now if we had actually seen that play out, read that interaction, then maybe I could be more on board.

The last 6 or so chapters were the best part of the book. They were actually interesting.

I enjoyed this book MUCH more than the first. Mostly it’s because I enjoy the dynamic of these characters more but there is also the fact that Alice seems to have more of a character than Jade did. Alice has a passion for animals, previously studying to be a vet, and wants to continue that passion even on an alien planet. She’s also a very gentle person so when she really has to step up and stand up for herself it makes a bigger impact.

Luka is a lovely male lead, his personality very fitting for Alice and her curious and kind nature. He’s stern but kind and very confident. I appreciate a confident man, especially when he’s willing to make up for when he messes up since no one is perfect. His pride does get in his own way sometimes but he learns to accept his faults and lack of knowledge but choosing to learn more about his mate so he can do right by her.

There are some weird misunderstandings here and there, but they’re dealt with relatively quickly so they didn’t annoy me. I also appreciated the expansion on our understanding of the group taking human women, each nugget of information was delightful but I do wish we’d gotten more. There are pacing issues, much like the last book, but it’s easy to forgive.

This is my favorite of the entire series so far!!! I adored the interactions between Lily and Verakko, their banter was entertaining as well as revealing to their characters. I feel like we really learned who they were before the romance really started, though honestly they were a bit annoying at the beginning, they grew on me very quickly. Verakko especially irritated me with his smugness and over inflated ego. Thankfully he softened pretty quickly with a bit of Lily’s stubbornness.

The trip through the woods was the most entertaining part, I honestly couldn’t put the book down at that point, but once they actually reached civilization I did enjoy their interactions a bit less. Most of the drama is centered around the fact that Verakko wasn’t completely honest with Lily, a big big no-no in my book. So when I say he redeemed himself, I really mean that, because it takes a lot for me to believe that someone can redeem himself after not being honest. The society of this alien planet is very complicated and I try to take that into consideration when reading these books.

I have to admit, Verakko’s species being sort of snake boy like gives him a lot of extra points in my book, as I am a big fan of the snake boys. His fangs and venom and the sway all lean into that snake like character, also the fact that he wasn’t entirely honest leans into that as well, which just adds to the experience for me. I wish there was at least one more spicy scene, but my favorite was the first intimate scene when they weren’t even having sex at all because it felt very raw and emotional for both of them.

What can I say, I’m a sucker for a grumpy/sunshine love story. There isn’t much else that can truly pull at my heartstrings quite the same.

The fake dating/marriage trope isn’t a favorite of mine, but it was used well here and worked for the story being told. It made sense at least. Alex is such an impulsive person that her lying about them getting married was no shocker and fit perfectly. She is a great character, though annoying at times, and I appreciate that her character was consistent through the entire story.

Auzed is just… a big grumpy hunk. My favorite. ❤️ His moments of sweetness and playfulness that Alex brought out of him were so worth all of his sour moods. He’s a caring person and deeply devoted to those he considered his responsibility, such as his family and those under him in his job. That kind of man is a true gem.

Because this story took place in Sauven mostly, I really appreciated the change in setting and how that expanded on the world. I was also very interested in the Sauvenians and hope one day we’ll get to see a book with one of them. Tails can be such a good time. Plus they seem more alien than the guys we’ve seen so far, except maybe Verakko, and I prefer when the fact that they’re aliens is very obvious. That’s like my only gripe with Auzed, he just seemed too human looking… his hair wasn’t even a funky color or anything.

Fun read, very heartwarming in lots of places. Mostly low stakes but had a few instances of tension that were fitting to the story.

As a start to a series, this book did everything right! The two leads are great, very interesting characters, their romance is beautiful and sexy, the world building drew me in, there are still mysteries to be discovered that make me want to read more, and just the style of writing is so perfect for this genre! I loved this!

If you’re anything like me and alien romance does it for you, read this book! For me it’s the best start to a series for alien romance I’ve read in a while, only topped by Ruby Dixon’s IPB.

2.7 ⭐️

This one was not as good as the first for me, which is why it’s been so long since I’ve read this series. I had tried to read this book right after I finished the first one about a year ago, but I just couldn’t get through it. This time I really pushed myself and got through the boring parts. I wasn’t able to really connect to Jaro or Sadie, which is weird because I have anxiety and I thought I’d connect to her in that way, but it’s not shown very much. She spends time talking about how anxious she is and how much she has to fight the anxiety, but it just wasn’t explored much more than that.

The romance was… eh? Just eh. A few good scenes here and there, but because I didn’t care much for these characters I just wasn’t interested in their romance.